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I Never Cared Much for Swords. Then I Had to Fight with One

(thewalrus.ca)
44 points pseudolus | 2 comments | 18 Jul 25 13:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.238s | source
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sgt101 ◴[18 Jul 25 15:08 UTC] No.44605511[source]▶
A guy called Steve Paul coached me for a few years, the connection is that he was Peirce Brosnans double in Die another Day. He got motor neuron disease just before covid and the poor old sod fell down some stairs when he was on holiday and died.

Irony can sometimes be a bit harsh.

Fencing was such a big part of my life for so long, but when I got to my late 30's the power went out of my body. It was shocking, but just true, I couldn't do what I used to be able to do when I was young and I had to come to terms with it. A lot of people go into coaching, or make their peace and fence as a veteran, but I couldn't do that. It took me a long time to grasp why because I used to coach when I was competitive, so why could I not abide it when I knew I could not compete.

The answer was not attractive. I envy the young. I cannot stand to watch them and know I am not one of them.

If you are young then take up swords, or racquets, or gloves and revel in your sinuous power. Soon it will be gone, and all you will have is memory, until something comes sliding and slipping and takes even that, and you find yourself tumbling into the night.

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hermitcrab ◴[18 Jul 25 15:48 UTC] No.44606097[source]▶
>when I got to my late 30's the power went out of my body

Do you mean strength? Obviously everyone is different. But from my experience in martial arts, men in their 40s, 50s and even 60s are still plenty strong. But you do lose a bit of flexibility and speed as you get older.

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1. sgt101 ◴[18 Jul 25 19:20 UTC] No.44608743[source]▶
Maybe it's different for other people, but I just couldn't move the way I used to, I had less gas, less snap, my reactions were poorer. There's a thing of power coming from your gut/core... that's what lets you really move and use leverage, and that really faded. Competing with guys in their mid twenties was the shocker. I guess that there's a think where experience and training builds advantage but then you go over a cliff where the physical difference just overwhelms that.

Look, we don't see professional athletes in their 40's much if at all. Mike Tyson was the best fighter (ever?) and looked in shocking good shape - but he still lost to that goon.

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2. hermitcrab ◴[18 Jul 25 19:55 UTC] No.44609089[source]▶
The reflexes definitely slow over time. But I can still sometimes beat my 19 year old son at table tennis, and I am 59.

George Foreman was still battering people in the ring at quite an age. But he was an outlier.

I would say that Ali was the greatest heavyweight boxer ever, in terms of sheer virtuosity and skill (before he went to prison anyway). ;0)